The first episode of Tom Brady’s new docuseries begins and ends with the quarterback reflecting on his journey from sixth-round draft pick to greatest of all-time. “Things that I’ve dreamed about have actually come true,” Brady says at the top. “Things have happened in my life as I kind of hoped they would happen.”
That touch of humble bewilderment — it’s probably fair to say Brady’s life has turned out a lot better than he “kind of hoped” it would — sets the tone for “Man in the Arena.” Unlike some of Brady’s other autobiographical works, namely “Tom vs. Time” and his grandiose wellness bible, the 10-part series airing exclusively on ESPN+ isn’t solely about promoting the TB12 brand. The project chronicles each of Brady’s 10 Super Bowl appearances not just through his eyes, but through the vantage points of his teammates and family members. There is no score settling here.
Instead, credit is handed out.
“There’s nothing you can accomplish in football without everyone else,” Brady says at one point. “It’s the ultimate team sport.”
With that theme in mind, Brady cedes the floor in episode one to Willie McGinest and Drew Bledsoe, both of whom provide their candid thoughts about Brady’s rise during the Patriots' magical 2001 season. In some respects, Bledsoe is the star of the show. His handling of Brady’s ascension, and the lessons his demotion taught a young Brady about the fleeting nature of football stardom, are portrayed as indelible influences on Brady’s legendary career.
“What I respect so much about [Drew] is he never let any of those emotions negatively impact me in any way,” Brady says. “I love Drew, and I respected Drew for everything he had done.”
Bledsoe admits he didn’t originally perceive Brady as a threat, referring to him as a “skinny little twerp out of Michigan.” But that “skinny little twerp” was inquisitive — “sometimes annoyingly so,” in Bledsoe’s words. When Mo Lewis knocked out Bledsoe in Week 2, Brady says he was mentally prepared to step in.
McGinest didn’t buy it, even after their 5-3 run with Brady under center. “This is telling us the $100 million man, who is 100% healthy, who is our franchise guy is no longer the starting quarterback,” McGinest recalls thinking when Belichick picked Brady over Bledsoe. “It is now this sixth-round kid out of Michigan who’s been holding things together for I don’t know how many weeks, we’re going forward with him. I know in everyone’s minds they were like, ‘What the f— just happened?’”
Brady remembers Belichick’s announcement a little differently, saying he believed the head coach only named him the starter for their game the following week against the Saints. He bluntly recalls he threw four touchdowns in that win.
The odyssey of the 2001 Patriots is a familiar tale, but Bledsoe and McGinest’s commentary add a new dimension. Most powerfully, it shows that Brady knows the makings of the Patriots dynasty isn’t only his story to tell.
It is the antithesis of “The Last Dance.”
The episode is slickly edited, splicing in old videos and audio from the 2001 season, including Belichick ordering Brady to run another drill during practice because his previous rep made Belichick "sick." The series was created in collaboration with ESPN, 199 Productions, NFL Films and Gotham Chopra, who’s also the director behind “Tom vs. Time.” The most memorable display of production foreshadowing comes when we get to Brady’s game-winning drive in Super Bowl 36. Viewers hear iconic NFL broadcaster John Madden predict the Patriots will play fo overtime, only for Brady to march them down the field with 1:21 remaining and no timeouts. WEEI’s Jermaine Wiggins even gets a shoutout for his 6-yard reception, which set up Adam Vinatieri’s kick.
“He was actually really good at that route,” Brady says.
Towards the end of the episode, Bledsoe gets the second-to-last word. For the first time, he reveals he cried on a ski lift in Wyoming the morning after the big game. “I just sat there, and it was the first time I just kind of let it all crash down on me,” he says.
That’s not a knock on Brady. Bledsoe’s professionalism and class is one of the enduring takeaways from episode one — though he acknowledges if “Tommy was an a—hole, it would’ve been really, really hard” to be magnanimous.
But Brady is not an a—hole. Despite all of his success, he still expresses wonderment at how his journey turned out: exactly according to plan.
“I remember I was eating breakfast in Ann Arbor after a game one day in my senior year, and my parents were in there with me,” Brady reminisces. “I said, ‘One day, I’’m going to be a household name.’ I said it as a joke, but man, now I look back, f---- 23 years later and I go: ‘f---- household name.’”
The description fits.
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